Features from October 2018
If Jim Morrision thought people were strange, I wonder what he thought about flounder.
The rut is always the best opportunity for a hunter to connect with a real trophy buck during deer season.
Crossbows are still looked down upon by some traditional bowhunters, but they definitely give people another option during archery season.
The rut won’t start for six to eight weeks now in the deer woods of Union Parish. But one family of successful deer hunters is already make plans and preparations for being there when it happens.
It was black on the water. Of course, it was midnight. We sat as quiet as death in Sidney Haynes’ 17-foot aluminum SeaArk boat. In the distance, automobile headlights flitted busily through New Roads, perched hard on the shores of False River, the big oxbow lake of Pointe Coupee Parish.
Specks, reds and bass are all doable on a nice fall day in Delacroix. Here’s what you need to know to pull off the triple play.
Days grow shorter; appetites grow larger. Water temperatures will be falling, but bass aggression is spiking.
Fall is here. Hunting season is here. At the core of it all is this simple fact: For fun and challenging hunting, squirrels are hard to beat
When October arrives, Mother Nature typically loosens her grip on the heat and humidity that have gripped the state since early summer, and teases us with a few tantalizing cool fronts that usher in the start of fall.
Columns - October 2018
- Fall is finally here. The trout are on the move back into the marsh, and that’s great news for kayakers. The shorter days are coupled with shorter paddles, there’ no need for live bait and great catches of speckled trout await. Oh, and did I mention the pleasant weather?
- Except for the issue with chronic wasting disease in Northeast Louisiana, the 2017 season was so-so. Hopefully 2018 will be a little more exciting. But what exactly will does this new season have in store for hunters in the Bayou State?
- According to Wikipedia, the Rigolets is an east-west 8-mile long strait connecting the northern part of Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne. “Rigolets” comes from the word rigole, which is French for “trench” or “gutter.” The name is locally pronounced “RIG-uh-leez.”
- Much of the allure of bowhunting is the challenge it presents. Timing your draw is one of the hardest skills to learn as a bowhunter.
- We do a lot of work getting ready for hunting season. Planning trips, choosing the right gear, setting up deer stands and the list goes on and on. Along with all the planning and anticipation we make a considerable financial investment in what we hope will be a successful season.
- They are everywhere. If you fish offshore at oil and gas platforms, clouds of the convict-striped fish are often visible underwater. Atlantic spadefish are a dominant species in the fish communities that develop around platforms.
- Lately I’ve been enjoying the new “Jack Ryan” television series. Based on the novels by Tom Clancy, Ryan is a CIA analyst-turned-operative who is called upon to save our country from various enemies.
- Chas Champagne and charter boat captain Ty Hibbs, both Louisianians, were having a ball this summer catching jack crevalle and the occasional large speckled trout off the coast of Florida.
- Chef Tootie of Earnestly Tooties shares her recipes for Seared Panko Grouper on Kale and Red Snapper with Roasted Corn Relish.
- October is finally here, and beyond sitting in a stand and bowhunting, you know what that means. It is once again time to plant food plots.
Outdoor Updates - October 2018
- It’s been a very strange year for Capt. Jamie Gaspard of Pure Adrenalin Fishing Charters out of Grand Isle and Fourchon.
- The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry has issued a quarantine for about the southern one-third of the state which prohibits transporting and transplanting roseau cane, to prevent the spread of roseau cane scale.
- They say lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place, but don’t tell that to Gary and Stacey Kinler.
- At their meeting Thursday in Baton Rouge, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission adopted a notice of intent to change regulations for the commercial and recreational harvest of blue crabs in 2019.
- If you were anywhere near Grand Isle this weekend, you probably couldn’t help but notice kayaks everywhere you looked. More precisely, 628 kayak anglers were spread across the island before gathering at Bridge Side Marina Saturday morning for Ride the Bull 9, the world’s largest kayak fishing tournament.
- When Clint Cryar and Colby Fruge headed out for a fishing trip Sunday afternoon, dodging the rain and catching a few catfish were all they really had in mind.
Field Notes - October 2018
- Fall can be an unnerving time for bass anglers, as the fish seem erratic while transitioning out of summertime patterns. But Gonzales Bassmaster Elite Series pro Gerald Spohrer said that unpredictably is actually a misunderstanding.
- After a few fish, clear baits are more white than they are translucent, and that can make them less attractive to speckled trout and redfish.
- The 2019 fishing season is almost over for those of us diehard hunters. Charter guide Capt. Brent Roy said a little TLC on your reels could save you money.
- With bow season now in full swing, that means hunters will once again be heading into the woods. Here's some tree stand safety tips.
- Crabbing is in full swing across the Louisiana coast, and it’s downright silly in certain areas, like the lower Barataria Basin.
Hot Spots - October 2018
- It’s football season and many good defensive backs rely on the bump and run when they are trying to slow down the other team’s receiver. With the bump-and-run, the DB bumps the receiver to throw him off his game.
- Southwest Louisiana’s bass anglers were on Cloud Nine a few weeks ago because the Calcasieu River was in the best shape it has ever been going into September.
- October can be a tricky month for fishing. It’s certainly a whole lot easier than September, but locating fish still can be a challenge.
- Lafitte is commonly known for relatively small trout — but this fall could be quite different, according to Capt. Lane Zimmer. He said a tough year last year could benefit the area this autumn, which means anglers will spend more time throwing speckled trout in their ice chest than on the measuring stick.
- When bass anglers approach a lake they haven’t fished in a while, their first question usually has something to do with what the fish are hitting.
- “Hooray for October,” my old friend Capt. T-Man Cheramie (985-677-6294) said. “The biggest threat of tropical storms has passed, the weather is cooler, the humidity is lower and the fish are on the prowl.”
- It’s easy to find the prime fishing spot to catch bass and sac-a-lait in October at Henderson Lake.
- Speckled trout anglers hammer the eastern Lake Pontchartrain train trestle every year, and when it’s on, the fishing can be lights out. However, when too much boat pressure gets on the bridge, the fish will turn off faster than they started.
- This fall was setting up to be epic for anglers launching out of Venice. The Mississippi River had been nice and low for a couple of months, and its waters were that beautiful shade of green that signals crazy fishing action.
- October means less fuel, less heat and better fishing, according to Shell Beach area guide Capt. Jacques ‘Jakamo’ Laboureur (504-303-1494).
- Bass anglers who frequent Toledo Bend can’t wait for hoodie weather in this part of the state.